Local – 680 NEWShttp://www.680news.com
All News Radio TorontoFri, 09 Dec 2016 17:17:23 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3Family of slain doctor expresses gratitude for outpouring of supporthttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/family-slain-doctor-expresses-gratitude-outpouring-support/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/family-slain-doctor-expresses-gratitude-outpouring-support/#respondFri, 09 Dec 2016 15:59:58 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505813The family of a doctor found strangled and beaten to death is expressing gratitude for an outpouring of support.

In a statement released Friday, the relatives of Dr. Elana Fric say they are especially grateful for the support shown for her three young children.

They say they miss Fric and appreciate those who have shared memories of her as a “wonderful person, mother and physician.”

At the same time, they are asking for privacy.

The statement referred to the woman as Elana Fric. However, police have called her Elana Shamji-Fric. Other media, including the CBC, have reported that she was in the process of divorcing her husband at the time of her death.

Charged with killing the 40-year-old family physician is her neurosurgeon husband of 12 years, Mohammed Shamji.

]]>http://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/police-announce-50k-reward-2010-murder/feed/0Train strikes tractor-trailer on tracks in Vaughanhttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/train-strikes-tractor-trailer-tracks-vaughan/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/train-strikes-tractor-trailer-tracks-vaughan/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2016 11:57:49 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505701A train struck a tractor-trailer that was parked on the tracks in Vaughan on Friday morning.

Luckily, the driver was out of the vehicle at the time.

York regional police say the crash happened near Kipling Avenue north of Highway 7 around 5:15 a.m.

The driver had parked the tractor-trailer at the entrance to the Woodbridge Foam plant. The train could not stop in time, police said.

No injuries have been reported. GO trains should not be impacted.

A train hit a tractor-trailer that was parked on the tracks in Vaughan on Dec. 9, 2016. CITYNEWS/Mehrdad Nazarahari

A train hit a tractor-trailer that was parked on the tracks in Vaughan on Dec. 9, 2016. CITYNEWS/Mehrdad Nazarahari

Barnes said police haven’t received much help from the public and are hoping someone can identify the man in the video.

“Somebody is going to know that person,” Barnes said on Friday.

Police believe the murder was targeted and are still investigating the relationship between the murderer and the victim.

Gibson was previously acquitted in the 2015 murder of Tariq Mohammed, 31, at a downtown Toronto Chinese restaurant. However, at the news conference, Barnes said investigators haven’t found between the two incidents.

The other person accused in Mohammed’s death was Ceyon Carrington. He was charged with armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of fail to comply.

Both men were acquitted after the Crown ruled there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

]]>TFC fans feeling betrayed by MLS Cup ticket saleshttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/tfc-fans-feeling-betrayed-mls-cup-ticket-sales/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/tfc-fans-feeling-betrayed-mls-cup-ticket-sales/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2016 11:14:34 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505681This weekend’s MLS cup final is one for the history books, and a decade in the making for the thousands of loyal season ticket holders.

When Toronto FC faces of against the Seattle Sounders this Saturday at BMO field, they’ll be the first Canadian team to play in the finals in MLS history.

So for TFC fans, this is the big one. But what should be a game of a lifetime for the club’s loyal fans, has quickly turned into disappointment with some supporters feeling left out in the cold.

“We’ve been there so long, to have this happen, so it’s a little bittersweet,” said Deren Hasip, who’s held regular season tickets since the team set foot onto the field. “We’re excited for the team but disappointed in how it all played out.”

Hasip and other fans are disappointed they won’t be able to cheer in the same seats and along with the same fans they have been since the team was founded.

Several season ticket holders tell CityNews that when they were given first dibs to purchase tickets to Saturday’s game, some of the seats they had been cheering from for years and years, were suddenly unavailable.

“To not be sitting where you were as a season ticket holder, our experiences are about sharing in that excitement for people who’ve been around you for such a long time,” Hasip explains.

CityNews has been receiving multiple calls and emails to our newsroom from numerous fans across Ontario, who say they feel jilted by this experience.

“Unfortunately the loyal season seat holders were the ones who ended up paying the price,” Hasip said.

Joseph Walker’s regular season seats were right on the field, but that’s not where he and his family will be watching the game from this weekend.

“Our seats weren’t available, there were different sections, but none of the tickets we usually have during the season,” he said.

Walker sent CityNews a photo of his seats. They are the blue seats seen below.

Jospeh Walker says the blue seats are where he sits during the regular TFC season. Image credit: Joseph Walker

Jospeh Walker says that during the post-season, he was unable to purchase the seats he purchased as a season-ticket holder. Instead, those seats were much higher. Image credit: Joseph Walker

Another season ticket holder of nine years tells CityNews, after being unable to purchase his regular seats for Saturday’s game, he found them online on StubHub, where prices listed have more than tripled. The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, says the seat he would normally pay $120 for, is now being auctioned off for $475 on the site.

He and other season ticket holders are now asking if they were denied their seats simply so that others could make a quick buck.

“Why are the tickets being sold on these third party sites for five times the value of what the ticket is really worth,” asked Walker.

A rep from Major League Soccer declined to appear on camera, but tells CityNews, the organization doesn’t post tickets on third party sites like Stubhub. In a statement, MLS said that 18,000 season ticket holders purchased 20,000 tickets for this weekend’s game, and MLS kept 5,000 tickets for sponsors.

Sports Marketing Instructor at York University says this isn’t an uncommon practice for sports leagues.

“The league has to fulfill its requirements, and fans need to understand that,” Vijay Setlur explains. “If fans weren’t able to get tickets at all, then that’s another matter.”

The TFC fan community has been growing in the last few years, and to be amongst the diehard supporters, is part of that ultimate fan experience.

“When they’ve gone to games, they’ve enjoyed the games with other fans around them, that’s what contributed to the atmosphere” Setlur said. “So now to have to cheer and support the team in a different atmosphere, it kind of dampens their experience.”

Setlur doesn’t expect this to impact the number of season ticket holders for next year. In fact, with the team’s success this year alone, he expects the fan base for TFC to grow even bigger in 2017.

Meanwhile, Hasip, who was able to secure other seats a few rows higher, says this experience hasn’t changed his feelings about the reds.

“I’m not going to hold this against them, I want to continue supporting them,” he said. “But you still worry.”

The driver crashed near Old Kingston Road around 3 a.m., Toronto police said.

The single-vehicle crash knocked over a hydro pole, causing a power outage. Click here for an update on the outage.

Firefighters had to cut the car to free the driver. He was then taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Weather does not appear to be a factor, police told CityNews.

The driver is in hospital after a single-vehicle crash on Kingston Road on Dec. 9, 2016. CITYNEWS

]]>http://www.680news.com/2016/12/09/car-crash-causes-power-outage-near-kingston-morningside/feed/3Man arrested after double stabbing in East Yorkhttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/man-arrested-double-stabbing-east-york/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/man-arrested-double-stabbing-east-york/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2016 04:11:16 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505605One man has been taken to hospital in serious condition following a double stabbing in East York.

Police say they were called to Gamble and Pape avenues, south of O’Connor Drive, just before 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.

They discovered two men in their 20s with stab wounds. One had a life-threatening stab wound in his upper leg. The second was victim taken to a local hospital.

Toronto police said Friday that both men are expected to survive. A third man is in custody, and facing numerous assault charges.

One man is in custody after two men were stabbed near Gamble and Pape avenues on Dec. 8, 2016. CITYNEWS

]]>http://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/man-arrested-double-stabbing-east-york/feed/1Winter weather is here: Blowing snow, windchill in GTAhttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/winter-weather-blowing-snow-windchill-gta/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/winter-weather-blowing-snow-windchill-gta/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 22:20:21 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505431A special weather statement has ended for Toronto, but a snow squall watch is in effect for parts of the GTA on Friday.

Environment Canada issued the statement for the city on Thursday, calling for flurries and blowing snow as a cold front moved through the region. It was lifted for Toronto and parts of the GTA just before 5 a.m. on Friday.

Up to two centimetres of snow fell in a short period of time on Thursday evening, making roadways slick and leading to a number of minor fender benders as cars slid into ditches.

A light dusting of snow was still seen on the roads and sidewalks on Friday morning.

A snow squall watch remains in effect for some areas of the GTA including Newmarket, Georgina, northern York Region and northern Durham Region. Barrie and Orillia are under a snow squall warning. Police are asking motorists to slow down and drive according to the conditions.

680 NEWS meteorologist Jill Taylor said Toronto and GTA will see a mix of sun and cloud on Friday with a chance of flurries. The high will be -1 C but the windchill will make it feel like -6 C. It will be a chilly night with a windchill near -11.

For the big Toronto FC championship game on Saturday, soccer fans at BMO Field will need to bundle up with a possibility of scattered flurries around game time and a windchill near -10 C.

And then, get ready for this: snow is expected to arrive in the GTA on Sunday afternoon with a potential for around five centimetres of snow.

]]>http://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/winter-weather-blowing-snow-windchill-gta/feed/1Suspect wanted in four separate Yonge Street bank robberieshttp://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/suspect-wanted-four-separate-yonge-street-bank-robberies/
http://www.680news.com/2016/12/08/suspect-wanted-four-separate-yonge-street-bank-robberies/#commentsThu, 08 Dec 2016 22:18:05 +0000http://www.citynews.ca/?p=1505427Police are looking for information on a suspect wanted in connection with four bank robberies in Midtown and North Toronto.

It’s alleged that between Nov. 21 and Dec. 1, a man entered four separate banks on Yonge Street between Davisville and Lawrence avenues. He passed a note to the bank teller indicating he was armed with a gun and demanding specific denominations of money and then fled with the cash.

Police say three of the robberies occurred at 12:30 p.m. and in one instance, the suspect fled into the subway system.

The suspect is described as being in his early 20s and between five-foot-10 to six feet tall.